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Gulfstream Luxury Jets, Old Boeing 737s in China's Tariff Sights

U.S. planemaker’s best-selling Max 8 model narrowly escapes
Measures seen as ‘shot across the bow’ for company and Trump

The Boeing Co. 737 MAX airplane stands on the production line at the company's manufacturing facility in Renton, Washington, U.S., on Monday, Dec. 7, 2015. — Photographer: David Ryder/Bloomberg

By

Julie Johnsson and

April 4, 2018, 3:58 PM UTCUpdated onApril 4, 2018, 5:15 PM UTC

China’s proposed aircraft tariffs take aim at Boeing Co.’s main source of profit, the 737 jetliner family, while exempting a popular upgraded model needed to fuel the rapid growth of the country’s airlines.

Boeing’s best-selling plane, the 737 Max 8, would narrowly escape the retaliatory measure, based on the weight limits outlined by the Chinese government, Douglas Harned, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., said Wednesday. The biggest risk is for an older generation of 737 jetliners and General Dynamics Corp.’s luxurious Gulfstream jets.